Category Archives: Uncategorized

En-route to Islay our first two-legged summer visitors arrived in time for coffee on Monday. After refreshment and the guided tour Phil and Ruth got stuck in and we cleared the remaining larch from the east of the house and stacked it out of the way, up beside the drive. Before: After: After lunch andContinue reading “Filling the hole, a holiday highlight”

It’s Friday and the electric’s first fix is done. New holes have appeared in walls and wires are dangling everywhere. Iain, the boss, came over briefly this morning, to check progress and help Arran feed the big sub-main cable through the underground ducting, from workshop to house. When I first saw the coil of heavyContinue reading “Am I doing enough? You can backfill that hole now…”

Generating our own electricity would be nice; three replacement panels await shipping from the Netherlands and our contractor is chasing the supplier. This time they’ll be delivered to Glasgow, not handed over to another courier for the final leg to this ‘remote’ location. Archipelago of Electricians: I thought Iain was going to send Innis (whichContinue reading “Can I do this if I can’t do that?”

Normal (building) service will be resumed as soon as possible. My daughter came for a week and I planned to keep work to a minimum, but the weather forecast was poor, typical when someone says they’re coming. As it turns out the forecast was wrong, and though a bit colder we had no rain allContinue reading “More Holiday?”

I’d like to start with a photo, an arresting image, but if it was of my latest work it would depict the familiar maze of varied pipes and ducts, a little more complicated than the last, but probably of limited interest. Nick keeps eyes – Shock Horror! So… I had just threaded the 22mm plasticContinue reading “Escape from the plant room”

The bathroom now has a wall, more or less. The stud work of 70 x 45mm timber awaits the sliding/pocket door mechanism which lies in its component pieces in a large cardboard tube on the bedroom floor. Plywood on the inside and plasterboard on the outside can come after the basic electrics (first fix) areContinue reading “Weekend; energy returns”

Since my hernia repair I’ve been swanning around, taking it easy. ‘Listen to your body’ the surgeon said, failing to check how deaf I am. So it’s been almost a fortnight of Building Lite. I could get used to this! It’s been some time since I bought a quantity of anything to get on withContinue reading “Visitors from Africa”

Work on the house paused over Easter for minor bodily repair and chocolate. More than two days off seems like a real holiday, a revelation. Time to get up late and over a long breakfast stare out at a pair of siskins on Tash’s bird-feeders. I’ve waited a year to see them here but perhapsContinue reading “Pearls and Stitches”

Bargeboards. Having finished the cladding to a point where we can leave it for some time, I wanted to get the bargeboards up on the south pitch of the workshop and fit the metal verges over the top to have it all sewn up, ready for the installation of photovoltaic panels next week. The weatherContinue reading “Bargeboards and bullfinches”

A friend asked me about the heating and the miles of big grey pipes, ‘is that part of the heat pump?‘ he asked, quite reasonably. I realise I’ve rather assumed everyone knew about this stuff, but of course many of you probably don’t, so a brief explanation seems in order. But first I can announceContinue reading “How does that work then?”